In the summer of 1996, he joined his hometown club Newcastle United for a then world record £15 million, and in his first season won his third consecutive Premier League Golden Boot.

[6] Shearer had successful trials for First Division clubs West Bromwich Albion, Manchester City and Newcastle United, before being offered a youth contract with Southampton in April 1986.

13 goals in 41 appearances for the Saints led to an England call-up;[9] he scored on his debut,[10] and was strongly linked in the press with a summer move to Manchester United.

[8] Despite making just one goalless appearance as England failed to progress past the Euro 1992 group stages,[13] Shearer was soon subject to an English transfer record-breaking £3.6 million bid from Blackburn Rovers.

[14] Although there was also interest from Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, Blackburn benefactor Jack Walker's millions were enough to prise the striker from Southampton, and Shearer moved north to Ewood Park in the middle of 1992.

[16] He missed half of his first season with Blackburn through injury after snapping his right anterior cruciate ligament in a match against Leeds United in December 1992, but scored 16 goals in the 21 games in which he did feature.

[9] Shearer also became a regular in the England team this season and scored his second international goal; it came in a 4–0 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier win over Turkey in November.

Shearer was forced to miss January through to May due to injury and England's World Cup qualification chances were hit by a run of poor form.

[21] Shearer also had his first taste of European football in the UEFA Cup that season, and scored in the second leg as Blackburn went out in the first round, losing to Trelleborgs FF of Sweden.

Shearer's only goal in six full Champions League games was a penalty in a 4–1 victory against Rosenborg BK in the final fixture[15] and Blackburn finished fourth in their group, failing to progress to the next stage.

[15] He missed the final three games of the season for his club due to injury, but recovered in time to play in England's UEFA European Championship campaign.

[30] Manchester United chairman Martin Edwards and Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz stated that Blackburn Rovers refused to let Shearer go to Old Trafford or Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.

At the club's training ground at Durham University, Ferris stacked six school benches and placed Shearer on top with high-jump mats either side – the striker trying to improve his balance by standing on one leg and bending over to pick up coins while having objects thrown at him, while a crowd of student onlookers watched on.

[45] An incident during a game against Leicester City in the league saw Shearer charged with misconduct by the FA,[46] with media sources claiming that video footage showed him intentionally kicking Neil Lennon in the head following a challenge.

[58] With Robson in charge, the team moved away from the relegation zone, finishing in mid-table and reached the FA Cup semi-finals, but a third consecutive final was beyond them as they were beaten by Chelsea.

[66] After this, Newcastle would have one more chance to progress in the Champions League in early 2003, but Shearer was one of those who failed to score as the team were eliminated in a penalty shootout by Partizan Belgrade in the third qualifying round.

United progressed well in that season's UEFA Cup and Shearer's six goals helped the club reach the semi-finals, where they were beaten by eventual runners up Olympique de Marseille.

Domestically he also had a good season, with 22 goals in 37 appearances,[9] but this did not prevent the club dropping out of the Champions League places to finish in fifth,[67] qualifying once again for the UEFA Cup.

[78] The match was a sell-out, and saw Shearer perform a lap of honour at the end with his family, with his young son covering his ears due to the volume of noise produced by the crowd in tribute.

[86] The new England manager Glenn Hoddle appointed Shearer captain for the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Moldova on 1 September 1996, and the player held onto the captaincy after scoring once in that match and twice in the following game against Poland.

In the final minutes of the game Sol Campbell headed in what could have been the winning goal only for the referee to disallow it due to Shearer having elbowed goalkeeper Carlos Roa.

From his 63 caps, he captained the team 34 times and scored 30 goals;[91] he is ranked 7th in the England all-time goalscorers list, level with Nat Lofthouse and Tom Finney.

[93][94][95] Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of all time and one of the greatest players in the history of the Premier League,[96] Shearer was often styled as a classic English centre-forward, owing to his strength, physical stature, heading ability and strong shot, which enabled him to be a highly prolific goalscorer.

[125] On 11 April, Newcastle earned their first point under Shearer with a 1–1 draw with Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium with Andy Carroll scoring a late equalising goal.

[127] On the eve of the final day of the season on 24 May, where all fixtures are played simultaneously, Newcastle faced the prospect of being relegated to the Championship, along with Hull City, Middlesbrough and Sunderland, which would end their 16-year unbroken spell in the Premier League.

[130] He cited not wanting to uproot his family as a key reason for remaining in England during his career, having had the chance to move to Juventus or Barcelona when leaving Blackburn.

He is among a group of high-profile athletic figures in British pop culture to promote the brand, which includes Olympic champions Daley Thompson and Linford Christie, footballer John Barnes, rugby player Jonny Wilkinson, and Tomb Raider heroine Lara Croft.

[153] During his playing days, Shearer had been involved with the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), taking part in the organisation's Full Stop campaign in 1999.

[155][156] In his testimonial match, he raised £1.64m benefiting fourteen good causes including £400,000 for the NSPCC and £320,000 for completion of the "Alan Shearer Centre", a respite care facility based in West Denton, Newcastle.

[161] Shearer also played and scored twice in Soccer Aid, a game involving celebrities and former players at Wembley Stadium in September 2008, to raise money for UNICEF.